dedicated to the fairer sex

…She’d Two-Step with Me

The other day my iPod shuffled up “Down At The Twist and Shout” by Mary Chapin Carpenter, and it kind of choked me up. I’m not sure why– there aren’t any particular memories tied in with that song– but it just overwhelmed me with emotion. Nostalgia, sadness, joy, hopes and dreams…

Saturday night and the moon is out I wanna head on over to the Twist and Shout Find a two-step partner and a Cajun beat When it lifts me up I’m gonna find my feet Out in the middle of a big dance floor When I hear that fiddle wanna beg for more Gonna dance to a band from a-Lou’sian’ tonight

I first became aware of Ellen Barkin in the movie Sea of Love (with Al Pacino), and was totally blown away by her incredible sexiness, so I began watching some of her earlier movies. I ran across one set in New Orleans called The Big Easy, and for kicks decided to buy some Cajun food — which I’d never had before — to cook up and eat for dinner while watching the movie on the VCR.

As I ate the spicy food and was marveling at the fantastic flavors (even from the store-bought box version of the food), I started the movie– the opening is an aerial shot of the New Orleans bayou as the zydeco band Beausoleil plays “Zydeco Gris Gris.” I was totally blown away by the unique sound of zydeco and its high energy. Something about the food and the music just latched into my heart. Over the next couple years I found local and nearby Cajun festivals to go to, where I could eat real, freshly prepared Cajun food and listen to wonderful zydeco along with all sorts of other great New Orleans music.

Well I never have wandered down to New Orleans Never have drifted down a bayou stream But I heard that music on the radio And I swore some day I was gonna go Down Highway 10 past Lafayette To Baton Rouge and I won’t forget To send you a card with my regrets ‘Cause I’m never gonna come back home

When my ex and I first got engaged, we talked about going to Louisiana for our honeymoon. She’d caught the cajun fever from me, going with me to Terrence Simian concerts and the yearly Bayou Boogaloo down in Norfolk, Virginia. I thought it would be fun to spend some nights in Lafayette, Baton Rouge, seeing cajun country and the bayou before wrapping things up with a few nights in New Orleans. Unfortunately, this was way before the internet made this sort of planning easy, and talking with my travel agent it sounded like making all the arrangements would not only be very complicated and time-consuming, but very expensive. The agent ended up talking us into buying an all-inclusive package deal to Cancun, Mexico which was very affordable and damn easy to do. We had a great time in Cancun, took some trips into the countryside to visit Mayan ruins… but I do still have a tinge of regret not having explored Louisiana.

They got a alligator stew and a crawfish pie A gulf storm blowin’ into town tonight Livin on the delta’s quite a show They got hurricane parties every time it blows And here up north it’s a cold cold rain And there ain’t no cure for my blues today Except when the paper says: Beausoleil is coming into town Baby let’s go down

If you’ve never been to a genuine cajun festival I’d heartily recommend it. They have one in Norfolk Virgina, the Bayou Boogaloo and for a stretch there we used to go every year, and even brought the kids a few times. The food was dynamite, featuring cajun cooks from Louisiana who’d set up a culinary wonderland right there in the grass, you’d literally just wander through trying to make up your mind. There was one booth in particular that’s always there that I had to hit at least twice during the weekend, and get just a slice of heaven: a huge Cajun crabcake over dirty rice with Shrimp Etouffee ladled generously over top of it. Can’t beat it, cher!

Beausoleil holds a special place in my heart as the band that first hooked me into Zydeco music with that awesome “Zydeco Gris Gris” that was on the Big Easy soundtrack. I never got to see them at a Cajun festival but I did get to see them once when they played a music festival in Shockoe Bottom years ago. They do a great job backing Mary Chapin Carpenter on Down At the Twist and Shout.

Bring your mama, bring your papa, bring your sister too They got lots of music and lots of room When they play you a waltz from 1910 You gonna feel a little bit young again Well you learned to dance with your rock’n’roll You learned to swing with a do-si-do But you learn to love at the fais-so-do When you hear a little Jolie Blon

I love the strong pull of nostalgia in this part of song even though I wasn’t sure what a few of the things she mentioned were. It turns out that a fais so do is a cajun dance party and Jolie Blon is the Cajun Waltz. Sounds like a good time to me 🙂

Dance with me, cher!

Today I spend Fat Tuesday working two jobs with remnants of snow on the ground, but I hope one year I’ll be spending it down in warm Louisiana, enjoying Mardi Gras with my honey, eating authentic Cajun food, drinking margaritas and dancing the two-step at a fais-so-do.

2 Responses

Goodness knows I shouldn’t get so worked up about these things, but I have to point out to you that there is a large difference between New Orleans and Cajun country. Your Bayou Boogaloo may celebrate Louisiana, but it is no genuine cajun festival. Also, its a fais-do-do, which is a pretty archaic term no one uses down here anymore. Also, most people wouldn’t consider anything Beausoleil plays to be zydeco. Come visit sometime, spend time in Lafayette and Eunice, and then you’ll get a better sense for what Cajun music and food are really like!